This could be a rough week — especially here, in the heart of the land where all the women are strong, men good-looking and children above average.

On Friday, Garrison Keillor, the most talented radio storyteller in at least a half-century, will record his final “A Prairie Home Companion” show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It will air at 5 p.m. Saturday on MPR and nationwide. As he announced last year, he is retiring after more than 40 years and 1,500 “Prairie Home” broadcasts.

Talk about some woeful news for the heart of Lake Wobegon.

For central Minnesotans not familiar with Keillor and his show, please know this area is the foundation upon which the Anoka native built a fictional radio world that has captured the Saturday-night attention of untold millions of people worldwide for 42 years.

Keillor uses his masterful storytelling skills, a sharp sense of Midwestern humor, and a superb cast of musical and radio talent to give people a reason to turn on their radios and learn the latest news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are … well, you know the rest.

Make no mistake. Lake Wobegon and its many characters, story lines and even sponsors are built largely on Keillor’s experiences of visiting and living in Central Minnesota through the early 1970s. In fact, early in his radio career he broadcast “A Prairie Home Entertainment” from KSJR-FM at St. John’s University. Keillor himself noted in his 1985 novel “Lake Wobegon Days” that the small town is the seat of Mist County, Minnesota, and sits near the geographic center of Minnesota. He wrote in National Geographic in 2000 that the town’s slogan is “Gateway to Central Minnesota.”

But the wonderment Keillor offers through his show is not rooted in geography. Rather, each show provides humorous new insights delivered through characters, skits and “sponsors” as comfortable (and believable) as that German Catholic neighbor down the street, the Scandinavian Lutheran at the store and the Norwegian bachelor farmer just outside town.

Perhaps to best understand the power of Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” realize this: It has grasped and held fans’ attention despite movies, during the golden age of television, and even now when the internet gives you instant access to most any kind of broadcast entertainment.

Kudos to Keillor for such masterful storytelling. We hope to see him at The Chatterbox Cafe now that he’s retired.

 

— St. Cloud Times, June 27